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Behram's statement: Xhaka and Shaqiri's 'Eagle' was stupid, we play games not politics

2022-09-05 09:03:17Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Behram's statement: Xhaka and Shaqiri's 'Eagle' was stupid,

The surprise is big when Valon Behrami (37 years old) comes out of the underground parking lot in "Piazza Como". The former star of the Swiss national team wears black and gray on his head (hair). In a long interview for "Blick", he reveals his new life without football now, while he also dwells on some delicate moments of his career.

Valon Behrami, where did your blonde hair go?

Away. Also all my tattoos are covered, I'm 37 now and in the next phase of life.

When was the last time you had your hair natural?

I think about 20 years ago. After that I always wore them, except in 2009 when I tore my cruciate ligament at West Ham. After that, out of superstition, I decided to always dye my hair until I quit football. Well I retired from playing football a few months ago and stopped coloring my hair. I save a lot of time, unlike before when I used to sit in the hairdresser's for four hours every six weeks.

Even your car is less spectacular. You used to drive a Lamborghini and a Ferrari, now you come with a Range Rover…

I've had back pain, so I'm driving a Range and not a sports car these days. Really, no joke.

Your retirement from football was never communicated. A teammate at Brescia "betrayed" you with the post on Instagram…

He wanted to do something good and he did something wrong.

What would you have done?

I would not have communicated it at all. Lara and I deleted all social media channels five years ago. It was the best decision of my life, we have much less stress. I laugh to death at footballers who put their entire lives on Instagram and then complain that they are being attacked and that their privacy should be protected. Bullshit, the way out is a click away. Delete your profile and you will be at peace.

But even footballers compete to see who has the most followers...

Yes, that's okay too and you can earn something with it. Do it, get the money and the attention. And shut up.

You haven't given an interview in three years. Why?

Because I didn't want to mix my private life with football anymore. Last year in Serie B with Brescia I suffered a lot. I no longer had emotions for the fans, for the sport and I felt that other things were more important. An example: If my daughters, now 13 and 6, were coming to visit on Friday and I had to go to the hotel with the team on Saturday for Sunday's game, then I didn't want that. I wanted to be with my daughters. I didn't feel anything for seven or eight months, I was mentally dead, I didn't care if we won or lost.

Sounds like a fatality…

No at all. Personally, I was and am super happy. It was the same with football, my body was no longer ready for high class sport.

And what do you do all day now after "retirement"?

I go to CrossFit at seven in the morning. As a footballer it was difficult to get up at nine, but now as a private person it is suddenly possible... Now I am a studio expert and co-commentator for the Dazn pay TV channel in Italy. That means I need to be up to date. I watch three or four matches a day, read, get information. And suddenly I feel that you journalists have a really difficult job (laughs)...

Petkovic told you in 2018 that he planned the League of Nations with young players. You felt abandoned…

It was 100% betrayal, nothing else. He didn't even want to call Stephan Lichtsteiner again, for sure. This caused a lot of fuss with me and Steph resisted a lot, he didn't.

You never had any more contact with Petković?

Of course not. Definitely not. I want to have only good people in my life. I trusted him and he betrayed me. This hurts a lot. I don't need him anymore and I don't want to talk to him anymore.

A lot happened at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. There was a fight in the hotel between you and the coach after the 1-1 draw against Brazil in the first leg. A physical fight?

Almost. I stood face to face with the then secretary general and we tried to calm things down.

What happened then?

Everyone was happy after the great game, all the families of the players in the hotel. So did Lara and my parents. We ate together, my wife and my parents sat at the table. He accused me of not showing respect, not even greeting him. Then we attacked each other. To accuse my family of being disrespectful hit me hard because they behaved like everyone else. Exactly, none of the players with dual citizenship wanted to play for Switzerland after that. They never wanted to run again.

All? Even Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri?

As for Shaqiri, I don't remember exactly. But everyone else, yes. I stood up for my colleagues, but I certainly made more enemies in the process.

Before that, the case of Xhaka and Shaqiri's eagle in the match against Serbia caused a sensation...

I still hate this thread to this day. It's football, not politics. This gesture has no place on the football field, it was stupid. We are not playing at war. In Kosovo, I was accused of not participating in that way of celebration. Serbian players are my friends, they were born after the war. That's why they should just play football in the World Cup and ignore everything else.

Are you affected by war?

I ran away from my hometown in Ticino when I was four and a half years old. I cried every night for two months. I missed my grandparents, it was very cold, I didn't like the food, we went to the refugee reception hotel.

How did you come to Switzerland?

We traveled on the last bus from Kosovo, when we realized that there was no future. Soon after that the war started. Our house burned down, we lost friends and relatives, an uncle was in prison. Each of us has our own story. My aunt and another uncle went into hiding and were later found. What happened is this: all the women lined up on one side. All men on the other side. And my aunt then had to watch her husband and everyone else get shot. Madness. The worst thing was the uncertainty.

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